For the purposes of this blog my name is Brick Orrock. Think about it. It’s clever. I would first like to say hello to the two of you that know about this blog and are reading it…hello. So, what is this blog about? Well, that is an easily explained thing, or it could be introduced by telling a story. No story? Fine by me. That’s the response I normally got when I tried to write. Anyway, the reason I am doing this is because I want to read more. I never did read much when I was younger. And by not much I mean that i didn’t read at all. In fact, I didn’t read a full book, front to back, until I was about 23. That book was Twilight, and yes, I liked it. Though I have to say that it was read aloud to me first by my wife as I played video games, so technically it was my second time through the story.

Well now, after that first paragraph you still don’t know what this blog is about. How aggravating, no? Well, in this blog I am going to write about my experiences reading books. What books? Well, I’ll tell you. I stumbled upon, just today in fact, NPR’s top 100 books for teens…link below…

I have become fond of YA fiction recently. The books tend to be short, but good (if you find the right ones). Well, with this list, it seems that all of the good ones have been found, and now it’s my job to consume them. The thing is, it is top 100 books or book series, so there are quite a bit more than 100 books. I’d guess there are over 150 at a real count.

Why am I doing this? Because I used to love to write. Then I went to school and after four years of classes and of reading crap and writing what I didn’t care about and getting critiqued on stories that no one really ever read; I just can’t make myself sit in front of the computer and create anything. I’m hoping that reading all of these books will cleanse my pallet and I will once again find my writing mojo. If not then I will at least have read some good books and started a blog. Two goals that I’ve had.

So, now for the rules.

1) I will go down NPR’s list starting with number 100, reading each and every book.

I have to at least read the first book. It would be ideal for me to finish the entire series, but I want to save myself some grief. So, if I feel like I don’t quite have a feel for the series or if it interests me, I will continue through the series until the story loses my attention.

2) I have to blog about each book or series.

This means that I have to write about each book as soon as I finish them. If it is a series, I think I will just write one blog for the whole series, instead of each individual book.

3) I have to stay positive.

I have a problem with being cynical and seeing only the problems in stories and people’s writing. I wish to change that. I will be optimistic and try to remember that these are books written by professionals and loved by readers for one reason or another. I will try to find those reasons (if it is not immediately apparent to me) and I will try to find what is good about the book. I wish to rekindle my sense of wonder I used to feel.

4) I won’t have a grading system or scale, but I will discuss the appropriateness of NPR’s placement of the books on their list.

So, now that that’s out of the way, I will start my adventure of YA literature. Wish me luck.